THE second edition of the Special Schools Arts Festival in Harare scheduled for earlier this month has been pushed to June 22 at the Africa Unity Square to allow children with disabilities from the region to also utilise the platform.
Tinashe Sibanda
The festival, which began last year in the capital, gathers children with disabilities from various special schools and disability resource units in the country for the purpose of showcasing their skills and talents in various art forms, sharing experience and learning.
“Institutions catering for these children have a chance to present at stands we allocate them- how they work with the children towards fulfillment of rights and needs. We expect them to go with this year’s theme ‘Breaking barriers’,” said festival coordinator, Trust Mutekwa.
He said the event had been pushed to a later date to boost their preparations which were geared towards establishing a vibrant arts platform for children with disabilities in the region. Workshops at St. Giles Special School will take place on the day and there will be a tour of stands allocated to the participants in gazebos. Various institutions will display their profiles with attendants at hand to explain to the visitors how they work with children with disabilities. Some institutions like Danhiko, Munashe Special School, ZimCare Schools and Emerald Hill showcase what the children do in visual arts. “Disability has been regarded with pity — associated with helplessness and negative connotations since time immemorial and, we cannot afford to host the event without making sure we done the best possible to set everything in place,” said Mutekwa. He said performances in dance, poetry and music come from St. Giles Special School, Murewa Resource Unit for the Blind, Jairos Jiri Kadoma, Jairos Jiri Southerton and Copota School together with a major highlight coming aboard this year from the schools side is Mutendi (Mbungo) High School Resource Unit for the Blind. Mutekwa said they would be coming all the way from Masvingo with a brass band composed of pupils with visual impairments highly inspired by the ZCC Mbungo Stars and the band was expected to impress with gospel tunes.
“There are various developments, we have adopted to regard this year’s edition of the festival as a unique- transformed event as we have invited adult artists with disabilities who can be of great inspiration to children with similar challenges,” he added.
He said from Bulawayo was Timothy Dube, a blind guitarist who sings country music with a voice which unbelievably switches from a profound stammer in speech to a melodious flow in song, Nompilo Nkomo — a lady from Bulawayo who draws and paints pictures with her feet, Munyaradzi Munodawafa comes back with his keyboard wizardry, Soul Bone will also perform and guitarist Joseph Shavieri who plays with one hand.
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